All Quiet on the Western Front … For Now! (April Update)

Things have been relatively quiet here in Ukraine for the past couple of weeks. Russia has toned down the intensity of its propaganda about Ukraine but it has not given up its threat to invade Ukraine. Russian troops are still masse d on Ukraine’s border ready for attack. Their tanks can reach Kyiv in 2 hours. Russia claims that it is merely conducting military exercises but military observers say these troops are not practicing anything but just waiting in battle positions. Who knows what Russia will do next! Ukraine has made clear that this time they will defend Ukraine with all means necessary if Russia invades. But Russian forces on the border alone are more than double all of Ukraine’s forces. And, so far, NATO, the US and Europe have all said they will not intervene militarily if Russia invades.

Pray for Ukraine …

There are many things to be praying for Ukraine in the coming month.

First and foremost, pray for a miracle to stop Putin from sending troops into Ukraine. If he does, it will make life in Ukraine very dangerous! Pray for the servicemen of Ukraine who are standing firm even though they know the odds of stopping Russian troops are very slim. Pray for the people of Russia to rise up against Putin and show him that they do not agree with his policies.

Pray for the government of Ukraine. We have new elections coming up May 25th. These are very important elections and Putin wants to stop them from occurring so April and May will be very critical months for Ukraine. Daily, Russia has been sending in saboteurs (over 10,000 in the last few months) to create instability in the country so that Putin can say he brought troops into Ukraine to stop the “Nazis” for creating terror in the streets.

Pray for unity in Ukraine. Really, before the situation in Crimea, Ukraine was pretty unified. There were not the strong regional and language differences that Putin claims. But, as the elections approach, all Ukraine needs to work together even though many parties will be competing for seats in the parliament and for the position of president. Pray for unity.

Pray for the people of Crimea. We have many friends, former students and current students living and serving in Crimea. Life in Crimea is becoming very difficult under Russian control. The economy of Crimea will be hurt very badly since it depended on Ukraine for about 80% of its economy and energy. Also, Russia’s laws are very oppressive, blocking all Western TV and internet and, after May 9th, it will be illegal to even say that Crimea is part of Ukraine – punishable by 5 years in prison! Pray for their safety and for them to be able to continue to minister under these conditions.

Pray for the churches of Ukraine. It has been amazing to see multiple pray rallies in the major cities drawing thousands of people to pray for Ukraine and to pray for peace. Pray for the gospel to continue to go out without hindrance too.

Pray for us too. The last few months have been stressful, waking up each morning not knowing if Russian troops will be here or not. However, the last few weeks, Russian rhetoric has calmed down so we have had a little more peace. But economically, we will see many struggles in the next year. Russia is blocking Ukrainian products (as much as 50% of our imports go to Russia). Russia has already said they are doubling our gas prices. We expect that we will see high inflation and difficult financial times ahead.

Family News …

It has been a real joy having Kristina in our lives. She is full of joy and even responding to our conversations and she always has lots of smiles. We just completed the process of her first US passport (hopefully, we’ll get it this week). So she will be a US citizen and able to travel freely with us!

Summer Plans …

We are getting excited about coming back to the US for the summer. Our general plans are to spend early June seeing friends and supporters in Connecticut and then most of June and July in Arkansas. We will head to Florida to see supporters and my father and Debbie’s parents at the end of July. Then, we will head out to Colorado to see Joel, Alyssa and Lucas (they moved to Colorado this winter). We hope to be able to camp a little in Arkansas and maybe even Colorado but our camp time will be small this year with so many people to see and visit. But we are looking forward to seeing everyone and maybe even resting some!

Life, Ministry and Plans …

Things are still safe for us right now in Ukraine. We don’t know what will happen in the coming days and, the last few months have been stressful, especially not knowing what will happen each day. We continue to be involved in our ministries. I will also be teaching in May (Research and Critical Thinking). This is a very important foundational class for our students and we usually have over 40 students in this class. I will be co-teaching it with Natalie Tereschenko (one of my former Talbot students). Be praying for us as we teach this class.

I’m continuing my Russian classes at the university. I’m very glad I decided to take these classes. I will probably need to take one more year of Russian next year too. Going to classes, traveling over an hour each way (each day) plus Russian homework every day takes a lot of my time. But I am seeing great progress and I want to continue next year too.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support! We will try to keep giving updates and information about the situation in Ukraine through Facebook. Please do remember to be praying for Ukraine. We don’t know what the future holds for us and for Ukraine but we are here in God’s time to do whatever He would have us do. Thanks for helping us minister here in these times!